Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-03-11

UTe IOrU one AFTERNOON, anu IL became
known that he would push on, every
effort was made to dissuade him. For
a time he was silent, grim, deaf. Then
he pointed to the northeast and said:
There lie the bones of my children
and friends, and l will not rest until l
have avenged them thrice over"
They told him the country was alive
with hostlles. and hat every rod of the
way was beset with perils; but as the
sun went down he harnessed his mules
to the iron tongue, climbed into the
saddle, and without a nod of farewell TO
any one he rode to the west in the
gathering Eloom-more grim, more de-
termincd. more of a devil than a human
being. He had Travelled a good share of
the night over "A country in which death
lurked in every ~ravine; but the watchful
savages had not espied him. He had
Travelled until %mid-afternoon next day
along a trail where savagcs outnumbered
the snakes twenty to one. but somehow
they had missed him. We were riding
at full speed for the fort, keeping the
shelter of the dry ravines and the valleys.
and expecting at any ONE to be pur-
sued when we ran upon Grim Walker.
His wagon stood N the open prairie, at
least half a mile from the river and the
shelter of the cottOnwoOds. The four
mules had beer Embarrassed and turned
out to Craze. and the man was cooking
his supper at a campfire. the smoke of
which would draw Indians for ten miles
around. Our establishment when we
found him there alone kept us dumb for
a few minutes. We sat on our horses
and stared at him. and he greeted our
presence by a mere nod. When | recog-
nized him as Grim Walker | began to
suspect the enterprise he had ON foot,
and after | had put u few questions he
briefly explained:
Il am here to kill Indians. YOu can
look my wagon over if you care to-
1t was what | have described. He had
a barrel or more of fresh water. Il lot of
flour and meat. a small stove to cools on
and a perfect arsenal of firearms. 1t
was evident that the Indians could not
get at him with bullets, nor t~omahawk.
nor fire. and it would take weeks to
starve him out. There was only one
thing that troubled the man. His stock
would be killed off at once when he was
attacked, and he would then have no
way of moving his wagon. We helped
him out of his dilemma by agreeing to
take the animals to the fort. The har-
neSses were piled into his house, and it
was understood that he would come for
the mules when he wanted them. He
had a compass, and we gave him the ex-
act bearings. and as we rode away he was
preparing to toast another piece of meat,
seemingly utterly u|nconcerned Over the
dangers of his surroundings. As to what
happened him during the next three
weeks l had a few meagre details from
his own lips, but plenty of information
from warriors who afterward became
friendly" That is. when licked out of
their boots half a dozen times. their vii
lagos destroyed. many of their ponies
shot, and their squaws and children
driven to temporary starvation, they
cried for peace in order to recruit and
make ready for another campaign.
The campfire which Grim Walker built
saved the three of us from being am
pushed. A warrior told me that forty
savages were between us and the fort
when the smoke led them to believe that
a large party of immigrants must be
camped in the bottoms. 1t could only
be a large party which would dare builc
such a fire in a hostile country. The
warriors were all drawn off by "A sigma
to attack the larger game, and before
shutdown that evening 200 murderOu:
redskins We're opening their eyes very
wide at sight of the one lone wagon an
chored on the prairie under their noses
How did it get there? Where were the
horses or mules: Was it occupied
They must have asked themselves thes'
questions over and over again. but there
stood the wagon, grim, silent. mysterious
The whole band finally moved down foI
a closer inspection, believing the vehicle
to have been abandoned, and hopeful
that something in the shape of plundel
had been left behind. They had com,
close-they had entirely surrounded tn
vehicle-when a sheet of flame darteC
from one of the port holes, and Grin
Walker had begun to tally his victims
/. Before the redskins could get out o
range he had killed seven of them, usin!
shot guns and bucllshot. 1t was onl,
when they came to return the fire tina
the savagos discovered what sort of
, vehicle had been hauled out there among
them. They wasted hundreds of bullet
before they ceased firing, and with a riff
Walker killed two more of them befor
night set in.
A The supastitious nature of the India
2 would have driven him away had he nc
| burned for revenge. And, too, it wa
; argued that the wagon must contai
S something of great value to have bee
5 built that way, and greed was added t
r the thirst for vengeance. They believe
4 that the bottom of the box, at least, WI
/ of wood. and about three hours afte
dark a number of warriors, each havin
n a bunch Of dry grass under his arm
crept forward to the vehicle to start
r fire under it.. They crept as noiselessl
as serpents, but before a man of ther
# had passed under a double barreled sho
gun belchdl forth its contents, and tw
more bucks set out for the happy hum
Il ing grounds. Next day, refusing to bc
70 lieve that & wagon could be bullet proc
II the IndianI opened IA fusilade, which we
| maintained for two hours. They wer
u bnbinI tres and lops and under cove